People have sought to determine the locations of objects for centuries. Ancient Phoenicians used the stars to roughly determine the locations of their ships, and sextant usage for celestial navigation dates to the mid 1750s.
More recently, global positioning system (GPS) receivers have become popular for locating objects that are outdoors. For example, cars and boats frequently use GPS for navigation. GPS receivers typically cannot be used indoors because they require a clear view of the sky to receive satellite signals.
For locating objects that are indoors, distances can be measured using tape, laser rangefinders, or using acoustic or radar echo-location. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be used to determine how far away an object is, but not its precise location.